Huskies beat rival Friars for local bragging rights

By Curt Herron

 

CLICK HERE FOR OPRF'S TEAM PAGE

 

Stuck in a five-match winless streak in which it had collected just three goals, Oak Park and River Forest faced a big test on Friday evening.

And that was to try to pick up its first victory since a season-opening triumph over Riverside-Brookfield when it met up with rival Fenwick.

Halting a run of four-straight losses was not going to be easy for the Huskies against a Friar squad that hoped to avenge recent defeats in the series.

But with village bragging rights at stake before a large and lively crowd on a cool evening at Oak Park Stadium, OPRF proved to be up to the challenge.

The Huskies collected half of their previous goal total in the span of just 130 seconds and those two scores helped them claim an exciting 2-1 victory.

Noe Espinoza connected on goals in the 60th and 62nd minutes, thanks to assists from Okker Verhagen and Sam Dull, to pace the attack for the Huskies.

That quick scoring spark, which resulted in OPRF's first multiple-goal effort of the season, capped what had been a frustrating evening for the hosts.

Although OPRF had plenty of good scoring opportunities prior to those goals, their efforts had all been turned away by Fenwick keeper Jacob Peterson.

"This is a huge shot in the arm for us," OPRF coach Paul Wright said. "The guys felt a little embarrassed but they've improved and worked hard. It was good to see Noe get some confidence and got Gianluca Lo Casto back following a shoulder injury.

"We felt like we had chances in our last three games but we haven't been able to score up top so it was good to get some confidence. The boys have been playing really hard and they could have been 6-0 instead of 1-4-1 coming into tonight.

"We switched to a diamond like we played last year since we felt we had more confidence with it. Our sweeper, Max Menzies, has done a really good job. Mavin Gill did a better job of closing things down and Ryan Ebersole had the game of his life at stopper.

"Their goalie was phenomenal. We had two set plays where Okker and Gianluca put shots on frame but he made dives to stop them. Against other teams, we might have had four or five goals."

As has been the case with past matches in the series, much of the excitement stems from the huge crowd that shows up to support Oak Park's two squads.

"Coach (Rob) Watson is a wonderful guy and they're in our summer league and come out to our summer camp," Wright said. "All of these kids grow up together and that's what makes this a great game each year.

"Look at all of the fans who were here. Most of these kids will never play before this type of large crowd again, so it's a great experience for them."

OPRF (2-4-1) had the first great opportunity of the final half when Espinoza got tripped up about five minutes after the intermission.

But on the subsequent free kick, Verhagen sent a ball inside to Dull, whose header was then deflected away by the Friar goalkeeper.

A few minutes later, Gianluca Lo Casto's free kick from just outside of the box was deflected and Verhagen's try following the corner was thwarted.

Fenwick (3-3) had a good chance just prior to the half's midpoint when a throw in went to Ben Greenberg in the box but his effort went over the net.

The Huskies struck a bit later on a counterattack when Verhagen sent a pass to Espinoza and the senior scored from close range to put his team ahead.

Just over two minutes later, Espinoza was able to find the net again, this time off a pass from Dull, to give him his third goal of the season.

Espinoza's attempt was deflected by Peterson but the loose ball continued its path toward an empty net to provide the Huskies with a two-goal lead.

"We put a lot of effort into this and I think that we came out really strong," Espinoza said. "I love the atmosphere and being able to go up against our biggest rivals. We wanted to come out and play really hard and score goals.

"We had some really good chances to score but when you're playing against a great goalkeeper, all you can try to do is put the ball in the perfect spot. It was exciting to score those two goals and I have no words to explain it.

"This was a really important win for us, especially after losing our last four games. I love this team and this is my senior year so we've got to make it happen."

OPRF continued to apply pressure over the next few minutes as Ryan Ebersole was denied on a long free kick and Verhagen had a short try stopped.

After an exchange of attempts from Pat Callahan and Danny Zawacki, the Friars finally scored in the 75th minute to make it a one-goal match.

Peterson came out of the net and crossed to midfield to take a free kick which eventually reached Zawacki, who made a close attempt for a goal.

Espinoza almost connected again in the 79th minute when he got free and a deflected try headed toward to goal but a Friar defender cleared it.

The Friars appeared to have one last threat in them when Francisco Moreno sent a free kick toward the net but an offside call ended the drama.

"This win feels great," said Max Menzies. "It's been a rough patch for us but we bounced back and finished our chances. We all pushed each other and we all played together as a team tonight.

"I thought our backline stuck with Jack Alberts well and even though he got past us a few times, he didn't really get many chances. And we had a lot of chances but Jacob Peterson was great.

"I feel that we deserved to get a win since we've been working hard but just been a little unlucky. And there's nothing better than beating Fenwick three times in a row at our home field.

"Even though we're a young team, we're quick and very good with the ball. We've got some size up top but it's just a matter of us putting in our chances and Noe came through for us today."

The Huskies had plenty of chances from just before the midway mark of the opening half to the break but Peterson managed to keep them at bay.

After Dan Gryzlo had a try punched away to start the sequence, Verhagen's subsequent attempt from close range went just wide of the mark.

Following an exchange of threatening free kicks from Jack Alberts and Verhagen, Robbie Holmes was denied on a short try after a corner kick.

OPRF looked like it might move ahead in the 38th minute when Verhagen was tripped up in the box but his penalty was deflected by Peterson.

One final Huskie hope before the break was turned away when Lo Casto's corner kick went in to Callahan, who close-range attempt was stopped.

The Huskies begin play in the Pepsi Showdown this afternoon when they meet up with West Chicago at Lyons Township's West field in LaGrange.